How does economic & political development affect school enrollment rates?

1. How does economic & political development affect school enrollment rates? Rachel A. Barron rb7114a@student.american.edu http://eagle1.american.edu/~rb7114a American University School of International Service SIS-600-5 Int’l Affairs Stats & Methods- Dr. AssenAssenov

2. Research Question • Do economic and political development enhance educational opportunities? • Controlling for level of economic development, public expenditure on education, and level of democracy, the enrollment rate will increase as these levels of development increase. Research Hypothesis

3. Background • Lloyd and Hewett “Educational inequalities in the midst of persistent poverty: Diversity across Africa in educational outcomes” • Explored education as a source and reflection of social and economic inequality, not only because of its recognized value as a key component of human development but also because of its contribution to individual earnings and national economic development. Argued that progress in education is possible even in resource-challenged environments. • Findings: Greater progress in female enrollment than male enrollment in Africa. More factors involved including GNI per-capita and donor expenditures on primary education, the extent of corruption in the education sector and job opportunities for young men and women • Al-Samarrai “Achieving education for all: how much does money matter?” • Explored to what extent differences in resources allocated to education explain differences in educational access and performance across countries. Investigated whether or not increasing resources available to education can help to achieve the MDGs. • Findings: No consistent effect of resources on the outcomes of school achievement. The link between education outcomes and public education resources is, at best, weak. Only per pupil expenditures appeared to be significant in explaining the cross-country variation in educational outcomes. • Implications for my research: • Agreement across the board on the limitations of existing data to investigate quality of education and effectiveness of spending. Data is limited and many factors play a role in analyzing the diversity in education levels across countries.

4. Data • Source: Pippa Norris Driving Democracy Crossnational Data Spring 2009 • Dependent variable: • Combined Gross Enrollment Rate (%) 2004 (UNDP 2007) • Independent variables: • Log of GDP per capita (US$) 2002 (UNDP 2007) • Public spending on education, total (% of GDP) 2001 (WB 2004) • Freedom House rating of Democracy 2006 • Sample range of 98-180 countries • Interval-Ratio, Country-level data

5. Descriptive Statistics Dependent Variable: Independent Variables:

6. Bivariate Analysis

7. Regression Analysis Dependent variable: Gross enrollment rate All variables are significant except for public spending on education. Model 4 has the best fit after dropping the insignificant variable of public spending on education and its added multicollinearity. (*) Statistically significant at .05 level (**) Statistically significant at .10 level

8. Conclusions & Policy Recommendations • Findings: • Public spending on education has a weak relationship to enrollment rates. GDP per capita and level of democracy positively impact enrollment rates. • Policy implications: • Increasing level of freedom and democracy in countries will increase enrollment rates. With a more democratic government, money will be better spent and citizens will place more trust in government institutions, including schooling. A higher-educated population will increase GDP and vice versa, so education must be prioritized.